Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Penguin prize packs just keep getting BIGGER! In November, there were 6+ books, in January there were 8+, and now in March there are 11+ books to be won. Read on to see which books you can win. In addition to these 9, the publicist will throw in a few favorites from years past.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman (Coming April 2, 2009) In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

Being an heiress in 1920s Austria with nothing but a broken-down castle to your name and nary a penny in your purse could be frustrating for anyone but the Princess Theresa-Maria of Pfaffenstein. “Tessa,” however, is thrilled with her situation, as it allows her to concentrate on her love of the arts—and no one in the Viennese opera company need know that their delightful and charming under-wardrobe mistress is really a princess.

But when the dashing self-made millionaire Guy Farne arrives at the opera in search of suitable entertainment for his high society guests, Tessa realizes that there may be more to life—and love—than just music. But while the attraction between them in undeniable, Guy’s insufferable snob of a fiancée only solidifies Tessa’s determination to keep her true identity a secret. Yet, after a chance meeting with the handsome Englishman, Tessa’s reserve begins to melt, and she starts to wonder if it’s not too late for a fairytale ending…

Peace Love & Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle (coming May 14, 2009)

Growing up in a world of wealth and pastel-tinted entitlement, fifteen-year-old Carly has always relied on the constancy—and authenticity—of her sister, Anna. But when fourteen-year-old Anna turns plastic-perfect-pretty over the course of a single summer, everything starts to change. And there are boys involved, complicating things as boys always do. With warmth, insight, and an unparalleled gift for finding humor even in stormy situations, beloved author Lauren Myracle dives into the tumultuous waters of sisterhood and shows that even very different sisters can learn to help each other stay afloat.

For almost forty years, Robert Parker’s inimitable private investigator Spenser has been solving cases and selling millions of books worldwide. Now, for the first time, see how it all began as the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master sheds light on Spenser’s formative years spent with his father and two uncles out West.

This is an event book for every fan of Spenser, and a revelation for teens about to discover an American icon.

Prada & Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard (coming June 11, 2009)

To impress the popular girls on a high school trip to London, klutzy Callie buys real Prada heels. But trying them on, she trips…conks her head…and wakes up in the year 1815!

There Callie meets Emily, who takes her in, mistaking her for a long-lost friend. As she spends time with Emily’s family, Callie warms to them—particularly to Emily’s cousin Alex, a hottie and a duke, if a tad arrogant. But can Callie save Emily from a dire engagement, and win Alex’s heart, before her time in the past is up?

Prada and Prejudice is a high-concept romantic comedy about finding friendship and love in the past in order to have happiness in the present.

Wednesday, September 5, 1973: The first day of Karl Shoemaker’s senior year in stifling Lightsburg, Ohio. For years, Karl’s been part of what he calls “the Madman Underground”—a group of kids forced (for no apparent reason) to attend group therapy during school hours. Karl has decided that senior year is going to be different. He is going to get out of the Madman Underground for good. He is going to act—and be—Normal.

But Normal, of course, is relative. Karl has five after-school jobs, one dead father, one seriously unhinged drunk mother . . . and a huge attitude. Welcome to a gritty, uncensored rollercoaster ride, narrated by the singular Karl Shoemaker.

Plus by Veronica Chambers (coming soon)

Beatrice Wilson's life changes overnight when she’s discovered by a scout for the oldest, most prestigious modeling agency in America—for their plus-sized division.

Now she must find the confidence to vanquish skinny rivals, fend off sleazy photographers, and banish scheming frenemies in her rise to superstardom, all while trying to get her ex-boyfriend back. But Bea learns that to win prince charming, you first have to find a way to love yourself.

Three Cups of Tea Young Readers Edition by Greg Mortenson (out now)

In 1993, while climbing one of the world's most difficult peaks, Mortenson became lost and ill, and eventually found aid in the tiny Pakistani village of Korphe. He vowed to repay his generous hosts by building a school; his efforts have grown into the Central Asia Institute, which has since provided education for 25,000 children.

Retold for middle readers, the story remains inspirational and compelling.

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman (out now)Eon has been studying the ancient art of Dragon Magic for four years, hoping he’ll be able to apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune. But he also has a dark secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been living a dangerous lie for the chance to become a Dragoneye, the human link to an energy dragon’s power. It is forbidden for females to practice the Dragon Magic and, if discovered, Eon faces a terrible death.

After a dazzling sword ceremony, Eon’s affinity with the twelve dragons catapults him into the treacherous world of the Imperial court where he makes a powerful enemy, Lord Ido. As tension builds and Eon’s desperate lie comes to light, readers won’t be able to stop turning the pages …

For 1 entry, tell me in the comments the approximate number of novels you read per month and how many of those are books you bought as opposed to sources like friends, the library, review books, etc. I just thought this might be interesting since a prize pack with 11+ books in it would be nearly a whole month's reading for me.

For 1 extra entry, post a link to this contest on your blog or social networking page (sidebar is fine) and leave a separate comment to tell me you've done so. No separate comment, no extra entry.

For 1 extra entry, read one of my author interviews and leave a comment at the interview post.

Deadline for entry is Sunday, April 5th at 11:59 pm CST. Open to US and Canadian residents only (sorry international readers, but those are the publisher's rules.)

Wooooohoooooo, include me in this generous giveaway.I read 1 book a week, 4-5 books a month depending on how many pages a book has. I enjoy getting into a book, so I take my time.I buy most of my books say 3 and read 1 review book I am send for free in return for my opinion.

Nifty! My average reading per month is kind of all over the place right now. It's usually anywhere between five and eight books a month if I'm on a roll and don't get snagged on anything. And currently they're all books I bought. Although I just finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia and those were a Christmas gift. But for the most part they're books I bought.

Good question Lenore! Let's see I probably read between 8-10 books a month. It depends on how much I have during the week with school and everything. But if I really want to read a book I can usually finish it in one night.

Anywho, let's see I usually read 7 to 8 books a month but I'm really working on increasing that number.

I buy most of my books from Barnes & Nobles. I became a member of BookMooch recently so that has helped me gain a lot of books on the bottom of my TBR list. But for the most part I buy the books I read (=

Hiya!! Another great contest. Yeay!! I must say that I read about 8 to 10 books per month and Listen to 5-6 books per month due to my long commute. I probably purchase around 6 to 7 books per month, some for me and some for my friends :)

It usually takes me 2 or 3 days to finish a book depending on it's size, so I'd say I finish 10 to 12 a month. Lately I've been reading mostly galleys, but I do mix in books I've bought from time to time (like right now!) This is a fabulous giveaway. milou2ster(at)gmail.com

According to LibraryThing, I read about 40 books a month, not including picture books. Of these, I buy about two or three--the rest I get from the library or from Paperbackswap.com. (Oh, PBS, how I love thee.) Please include me in your giveaway!

Goodness, is Penguin good to you or WHAT? Hehe. From keeping track of my 50-book challenge on LT, It comes to a little over 10 books a month for me. (My reaction: that's it? But there are so many more books I have to read!). I tend to visit a lot of used bookstores and buy books that I know I'll eventually read, but my reading material is usually stuff from the library and swap sites. Hence why my TBR pile never diminishes.

I linked to this contest in my sidebar. Thanks for the amazing giveaway, Lenore!

somewhere around 20 a month at least although hard to say because i some times have two or three going at once not sure about the second question as i scoff them up wherever i can minsthins(at)optonline(dot)net

I probably read about 6-8 books a month. I purchase maybe 2-3 that I read, but I buy books constantly for my classroom. Several students stayed after school recently to count the books (crazy girls) and the current total is 2,387.

It depends... I'm starting to average 8-10 books a month and I only buy 2 or 3, but I've read 7 books in the last week (my senioritis is getting terrible!). And I'd love to be included in this giveaway!

Ok...I don't really have an average..lets see, in January I read 18 books, in February I read 10 books and so far in March I've only read 6 books (yikes!) And again, it varies on the number of books I buy...I get a lot of books from trading sites, but there are several authors that I HAVE to buy as soon as their newest books come out.

My average is anywhere from four to eight per month - it really depends on what else is going on in my life. Right now, buying books is not in my budget, but in the past I bought all the books I read. asthenight at gmail dot com

i average about 10 books a month so this would be a whole month for me too. although I think I am down this month because I have been swamped at work. And I get most of mine from the library because I am broke!

This isn't an entry just wanted to comment. Looking forward to reading If I Stay this week, co-worker read the arc, she loved it and couldn't stop crying. The Tales of the Madman Underground, sound like something I would love, thanks for putting it on my radar.

Lately my reading has been slow and I've only read about five books a month, yet I've bought about ten so far this month. My reading pile just keeps getting bigger. Out of the ones that I've read this month all of them excpet for one I picked up because I saw them on book blogs and an author interview and they looked interesting.

Please include me in this giveaway. I am reading about 10 books a month right now - mainly arcs - but I am not sure that I am going to be able to keep up with that pace! Especially when the kids get out of school for the summer.

I read about 10 books per month, but I never buy any of them. I get them from giveaways, friends, and the library (mostly my friends). And this is a GREAT giveaway! I want to read some of these books SO badly!

I'd love to win! I don't really know how many books I read in a month. In January I read 32. In February, 13. So far in March, I've read 13 (but only posted reviews for 11 of 'em). Right now I'm not buying books - I'm hosting the 2009 Ban on Spending challenge, & haven't finished my TBR pile yet - so all of these are from the library, and for review, give or take a few from giveaway wins...

I read between 8-10 books a month-more if I can get through more audiobooks. That's what I finish too, there are months that I start books and then don't finish them (reading and on audio) I really wish I read faster and could read more-and had more time to read! I get most of mine from the library, since I work there, but I do buy at least 1-2 books a month. I've been buying more recently.-Sarah (Oh, thanks for linking to my P&P review!:)

I read about 5 books a month (I'm a slow reader, and haven't had much time lately) and all the books i've been reading are ones that I already own which I've bought at used book sales, online or won. Thanks for entering me for a great bunch of books!

What a fun giveaway!! I've read 20 books so far by the end of March so I guess that's 6-7 books a month. I would say it is pretty evenly spread out whether the books I read are ARCS/free, library or books I bought. I actually try really hard to spread it around when I'm choosing my next book to read.

I also took a gander at your P.J. Bracegirdle author interview and left a comment.

Novel reading varies hugely for me -- 3 to 15 a month! I get into and out of routines with it.

I also read about four non-fiction books a month for school and another non-fiction or so a month for myself. Those go a lot slower for me (maybe because I read novels for teens and non-fiction for adults).

Most of my reading, though, as a sociology grad student, is journal articles. Not nearly as fun as Laurie Halse Anderson... or MT Anderson... but I persevere.

I read about 8 books per month during school. 6 books are for book clubs and then I usually have a book to read for a staff member and I try to read a book of my own choosing too! I've been buying at least 6 of these per month and then borrowing the rest but I'm going to try and borrow more and buy less!

I read about 6-8 books a month and I can't remember buying any of them except for one (on sale at Barnes and Noble). I think it's pretty cool that book bloggers and book reviewers get so many opportunities to receive free books!

When I saw this contest in my Google Reader and found out that 5 of them are on my Wish List, I had to sign up even though there are 88!!! entries already. It's impossible that I would win but ... I want my conscience to be clear. :)

So totally want to be included in this giveaway! I read about 10 - 12 books per month and I buy maybe 2 out of that handful, lower than I would like but at least my local library is getting more attention!Thanks! This is awesome. halleyjane@mac.com

I think I average around 6-8 books a month. Sometimes more, sometimes less depending on what's going on. Since I no longer review, I buy all my books (a lot come from paperbackswap.com so it's like $2.50 per book which is the cost to ship one book with media mail). I don't borrow many books. Maybe 2-3 a year tops.

These past couple of months, I've been reading more than usual at about 11. Wow, that's a lot for me. Mostly, the books come from the library or rarely, if i beg enough, I'll be allowed to buy one!Thank you for the contest!

I usually read about 1 book a week, in the cold winter months it can end up being 2 per week. I love taking my time with my books, savoring them, not rushing to finish them. I usually buy upwards of 10-15 books per month. I will never have a small TBR pile. I always fear never having enough books.

That's a good-looking bundle of books! I usually read between 15 and 20 books a month. Most of those are review copies, gifts, or library books. I'd say I buy two or three books a month for myself. And lots more as gifts! There's nothing better than a book for a gift.

On average, I read between 10-12 books in a month. In the summer I read more, because I am off from school. I buy most of the books I read, so I probably buy around 9-10 books a month. Although I do buy a lot at half price, so they are not at list price.

What a fabulous prize pack!! I read about 8-10 books a month. Half of them I buy. My husband is at this moment building a bookshelf for the bedroom because we are overflowing. But I'd be happy to win more :^)

Entry 1 ^_^ Ive been really conscious about this the last few months read 13 books each month in the past few months, thats just new books though ^_^ I try to read about half a book a day but I usually get more in on weekends. At least half are lends and a couple are from the library. My sister and I share all the time. So do a couple of my friends. It is really good to get a taste of what other people are reading. The library hear isnt really well stocked though T_T.

I read MANY children's books (as you'll see on my blog), but reading for myself has been sorely lacking since I became a mom 16 months ago. I recently started trying to rectify that by joining a monthly book club, so I am at least reading 1 book/month, but I also have a to be read list and plan to try to get back to my own bookworm ways. I never really counted, but I'd say I probably used to read a couple of books a week while commuting to work, and almost all were library loans. I don't like to reread books, so I tend not to buy them (children's books notwithstanding).

According to my goodreads account, last year, on average, I read 12 to 13 books a month. That's not including rereads which I do a lot, often more than I read new books. And because last year was a tight budget-kinda year, on average, I only purchased about 2 books a month, some of which were used.

I read about 10 books a month and almost all of them come from the library, with a few coming from friends! I used to buy 3-5 a month but with the economy what it is right now, that just isn't an option for me anymore.

i read around 7 to 10 books a month and i'd say on average i buy 1 to 1.5 books a month, though it's done in spurts, that is i buy 5 or 6 and then don't buys for a while and then again go and buy a couple.

Wow, what a cool selection of books! I read 8-15 books a month, just depends. I probably buy 5-10 books each month and the rest come from the library... but it would be exciting to have an infusion of books come from a giveaway :)

I read as much as I can with 2 young kids and raising them on my own I can only read late at night. Still I get to about 10 books a month and usually have about 2-3 audiobooks that I keep going. Thanks for the book giveaway!

Hello there, please include me in this giveaway! I'd say I read roughly 2 to 3 books a week, so 10 to 12 books per month. I'd average 11 of those books were ones that I purchased through bookstores, quality paperback book club, used book stores and online and just one would be a giveaway or one I didn't otherwise pay for. (That number is greater after Christmas and my birthday :)

I read way too fast, and generally read at least 1 book per day, sometimes 2. Weekends go up. So between 30 and 60 books a month. I read children's, YA, romances, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, scholarly books... I'm trying to cut way back on buying books so I'm doing a lot of rereading and library books but I think I'm still buying about 5 books a month. Used to be much higher...JennysWonderlandofBooks at gmail.com

I read about 10 J chapter books, 20 picture books, 6 YA novels, and 1 Nonfic a month. So about 37 books a month. I get the majority from the library and buy rarely (I really have to love it). I also get a lot of free galley copies. I posted a link on my blog, DogEar.

I read anywhere from 10 to 15 books a month. Most of them are bought a few are borrowed from friends. I rarely go to the library - which I should since that would be easier on my pocket. :) About 2-3 are review books.

The amount of books I read per month tends to vary - in Jan. it was 41, in Feb., it was 32. So far this month, I've read 26 I think. I almost never buy books. I get the majority from the library, some as gifts, some off Paperback Swap, some off Book Mooch, and win some in contests. Thanks for the chance to win a great prize pack!

Please enter me in your contest.I read about 10 or 11 books a month and I mostly get these from the library or buy them secondhand at Goodwill and thrift stores and such.-Alyssaspaceygirl99403@yahoo.com

Phew! I didn't know Parker had a new book out!I read about 4 books a month only now. Most of them are used from the half priced bookstores lately though. I do sometimes purchase new books from amazon.com but those are usually cooking or other fiction

Unfortunately, I don't have time to read more than maybe 2 a month. Quite often these are books I have either bought for my high school sons (required English reading) or ones that I bought at our local library book cellar. My younger son is currently reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation series for fun and would probably grab the Eon book. (He is impatiently waiting for the final book in the Wheel of Time series.)

It depends on the month. If I have school that month it averages about five books a month. If it's summer than its more like seven or eight a month. I used to buy all my books (but now i'm broke) so lately i've been using the library. Before though, half of my books were books I bought, and the other half ca,e from other sources (friends, etc.)

This month I believe I've read about 5, but each month varies greatly! I focus on YA books, I tend to take them out of the library, and then if I think they'd be a good addition to my future classroom library (I'm a licensed English Teacher w/out a job) I buy them.

I've been reviewing YA books for a few months now on my blog: http://yalitgoodbadugly.wordpress.com

I read about 5 - 10 books a month, I usually buy about the same number of them through book clubs, local book sales or receive them as gifts. I really should start going to the library... I usually share with friends and then resell some on amazon... great prize package... I would love to win and try some new authors...

I left a comment over a your Willow interview (which was really interesting, I want to read it so bad :P)

It depends on the month really, but generally I read about 5 books a week so about 20ish a month, and I actually probably buy like 2. The rest i get from online, friends, the library, or paper back swap (I get a LOT off there every month)

I'm at around 4-5 books per month, maybe more if I have more time on my hands. Considering I KNOW I can read a 300 page book in under 3 hours, you'd think I'd read more per month. Hmm...maybe I should up the ante...this giveaway would sure help!

in the past 2-3 months I haven't been able to read as much as I'd like to cause of how hectic my schedule got (varsity seasons, concerts, productions + coaching!) so I've only been able to read about 2-4 books a month, excluding the books I read for AP. I've been spending more time reading my textbooks, if anything! lolthe last book I bought was Hamlet a few months ago :( I have borrowed several books from the library and gotten some for review though :)

The number of novels I read per month varies hugely. Last year I read in total around 110 books, which would suggest I read around 9 books per month, but in reality it fluctuates from 5-15 per month. I don't usually buy books unless used or if they're by an author I especially like, so I probably buy 1-2 books per month. Thanks for this generous offer!

Hmmm... I probably read about 5-6 books a month, right now, on average. I usually read more, but schoolwork is keeping me really busy. I rarely buy the books I read. Maybe 1 book a month. I usually just get them from a library or a friend.

Wow! In a typical month, I probably work my way through five or six books. If I'm reading YA, that'll probably go up a bit -- I tend to devour those really fast! :) I buy quite a few books but also get them through BookMooch and borrow from friends and coworkers. And make sure to always return them! :)

I read between 5-10 novels per month, I think, on top of the books I read for college. Most of them are library books or books won through contests. Since I'm still in the category of poor college student, I have to be selective about books I actually buy, though I'm always tempted to buy more whenever I get money.

I blogged about this contest here: http://ravelda.livejournal.com/331381.html.